2008 Annual Report - NASA Airborne Science Program

Joint Airborne Science Sensor
Integration Working Group
(JASSIWG)
The Airborne Science Program has
initiated a multi-center working
group to examine the differences
in engineering requirements and
processes across the airborne
science fleet, and to assess the potential
benefits for common information and
design requirements among the aircraft.
The name of this working group is the Joint
Airborne Science Sensor Integration Working
Group (or JASSIWG), and is made up of
representatives from six NASA centers,
as well as the Aerospace Corporation and
NSERC.
The goal of the working group is to improve
access to NASA airborne platforms from
the science community by coordinating
and streamlining NASA aircraft instrument
integration requirements and technical
information between the platforms. This
streamlining will allow a more consistent
access experience by the science community,
and will encourage migration of science
instruments across the NASA fleet. It has
the added advantage of reducing redundant
activities and fostering communication across
the NASA centers, as well as improving
science management operations. A key
element of the success of the JASSIWG effort
is the consensus and acceptance by both the
science and aircraft engineering communities
to a more common requirements set.
During FY08, the working group held its
first meeting and determined the scope and
products for the initial phase of effort. The
initial products included common formats
for instrument Payload Data Packages
and Experimenter Handbooks to be used
for all airborne platforms, and a summary
of platform performance and design
characteristics for eleven NASA aircraft. This
work was primarily derived from review
of existing handbooks, data packages, and
experimenter questionnaires. Future work
will include an analysis and comparison of
instrument design requirements from each
platform, with a determination of any feasible
commonality that exists across the platforms,
with a plan for developing a set of common
design guidelines for use by the instrument
community. A second working group meeting
is planned in mid FY09.
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